Marriage qualifications

1. Marriage qualifications

2. Defining qualifications • Definition: to be able to take obligations to fulfill certain responsibilities, and have certain rights. • the criterions for holding responsibility in Islam are: • Complete state of mind • Understand the words said, and what relates to them • The prophet peace be upon him said: “the pen was risen (i.e. writing deeds) off three people: the one that is sleeping until he wakes up, on the sick until he heals, the child until he grow”, in another narration “on the insane until he heals”. • All scholars agreed that the people that do not have the main qualification in mind, and young age are not qualified to get married. But what if their guardian does it for them?

3. Who is considered an adult in Islam? • Physical signs: • Wet dreams for boys, producing semen, which even is discharged during sleep. • قال تعالى: «وإذا بلغ الأطفال منكم الحلم فليستأذنوا كما استأذن الذين من قبلهم» (النور 59) • as in the ayah surah Alnur: 59: if children reach the age of wet dream, then they must ask permission to enter a house, as those before them”. • وقال تعالى: «ليستأذنكم الذين ملكت أيمانكم والذين لم يبلغوا الحلم منكم ثلاث مرات» (النور 58، 59) • Pubic hair • Age • Some scholars said 15 yrs for boys, • No certain age, various from one person to another • 17 or 18 • Menstruation for girls, or body development as women

4. Marriageable age • Wikipedia: Marriageable age (or marriage age) is the age at which a person is allowed by law to marry, either as a right or subject to parental or other forms of consent. Age and other prerequisites to marriage vary between jurisdictions, but generally is set at eighteen. Most jurisdictions allow marriage at a slightly younger age with parental or judicial approval, and some also allow younger people to marry if one is pregnant. The marriage age should not be confused with the age of majority or the age of consent, though in some places they may be the same. In many developing countries, the official age prescriptions stand as mere guidelines. • Almost every country has a legal minimum age for marriage, which ranges from as low as 12 in some Latin American countries to as high as 22 in China. The age requirement is commonly 16 for women and 18 for men. • The percentage of women ages 15–19 who are married in the United States is 3.9%, while in the Democratic Republic of the Congo the percentage is 74% (The world of teenage marriage: too young to say I do." U.S. News & World Report. 19 Mar 2001. 12. eLibrary. Proquest CSA. MT SAN ANTONIO COLLEGE. 03 Nov 2008)

5. U.S and marriageable age. • In general: varies by state, but generally 18, with two exceptions: 19 in Nebraska and 21 in Mississippi. Most states, however, allow minors below 18 to marry (generally they have to be at least 16 but sometimes lower) with parental and/or judicial consent. Some states allow female minors below 18 to marry without parental or judicial consent, if she is pregnant. Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, and Oklahoma allow pregnant teens or teens who have already had a child to get married without parental consent.[92] In Florida, Kentucky, and Oklahoma, however, the young couple must have authorization from a court.[92] Maryland requires that the minor be at least sixteen.[92] Even with parental approval, many states will require court approval when a person is 16 years of age or less.[92] • Minnesota: Applicants 18 years of age may obtain a license. It is necessary to provide proof of age. • Applicants between the ages of 15 and 18 must have the consent of a parent, guardian or the judge of juvenile court.Applicants under the age of 15 needs the written consent of a parent or guardian and the consent of a juvenile court judge. • New Hampshire: Applicants who has reached the age of 18 can marry without parental consent.Afemale between the age of 13 and 17 years and a male between the age of 14 and 17 years can be married only with the permission of their parent (guardian) and a waiver • New York: If either applicant is under 14 years of age, a marriage license cannot be issued. If either applicant is 14 or 15 years of age, such applicant(s) must present the written consent of both parents and a justice of the Supreme Court or a judge of the Family Court having jurisdiction over the town or city in which the application is made. • South Carolina: If you are under 18, you will need a certified copy of your birth certificate and a notarized statement of parental consent. • The minimum age for a female is 15 (13 if she is pregnant, has a physician's statement verifying same, and the consent of her parents[93]) and it is 16 for a male

6. Teen marriage • Wiki: Teen marriage is typically defined as the union of two adolescents, joined in marriage from the age range of 13–19 years old. Many factors contribute to teen marriage such as love, teen pregnancy, religion, security, family and peer pressure, arranged marriage, economic and political reasons, social advancement, and cultural reasons. Studies have shown that teenage married couples are often less advantageous, may come from broken homes, may have little education and work low status jobs in comparison to those that marry after adolescence.[1] • Although a majority of teen marriages suffer from complications and often lead to divorce, some are successful. For example, in India, where teenagers are sometimes forced to marry by arrangement, more than 90% of these marriages will not end in divorce. In the United States, half of teen marriages dissolve within 15 years of the marriage.[2] The rate of teen marriage, however, is decreasing due the many opportunities that are available now that previously were not available before. Presently, teen marriage is not widely accepted in much of the world.[3] Teen marriage is most prevalent in culturally or geographically isolated parts of the world and it is decreasing where education is the focus of the population.

7. Teen pregnancy and modern studies • Teenage pregnancy is pregnancy in human females under the age of 20 at the time that the pregnancy ends. A pregnancy can take place in a pubertal female before menarche (the first menstrual period), which signals the possibility of fertility, but usually occurs after menarche. In well-nourished girls, menarche usually takes place around the age of 12 or 13. • Pregnant teenagers face many of the same obstetrics issues as other women. There are, however, additional medical concerns for mothers aged under 15.[2] For mothers aged 15–19, risks are associated more with socioeconomic factors than with the biological effects of age.[3] However, research has shown risks of low birth weight, premature labor, anemia, and pre-eclampsia are connected to the biological age itself, as it was observed in teen births even after controlling for other risk factors (such as utilization of antenatal care etc.).[4][5] • In developed countries, teenage pregnancies are often associated with social issues, including lower educational levels, higher rates of poverty, and other poorer life outcomes in children of teenage mothers. Teenage pregnancy in developed countries is usually outside of marriage, and carries a social stigma in many communities and cultures. • By contrast, teenage parents in developing countries are often married, and their pregnancies welcomed by family and society. However, in these societies, early pregnancy may combine with malnutrition and poor health care to cause medical problems (wiki pedia)

8. Teenage birth in the U.S • The teenage birth rate in the United States is the highest in the developed world, and the teenage abortion rate is also high.[10] In 2005 in the U.S., the majority (57%) of teen pregnancies resulted in a live birth, 27% ended in an induced abortion, and 16% in a fetal loss. [18] The U.S. teenage pregnancy rate was at a high in the 1950s and has decreased since then, although there has been an increase in births out of wedlock.[19] The teenage pregnancy rate decreased significantly in the 1990s; this decline manifested across all racial groups, although teenagers of African-American and Hispanicdescent retain a higher rate, in comparison to that of European-Americans and Asian-Americans. The Guttmacher Institute attributed about 25% of the decline to abstinence and 75% to the effective use of contraceptives.[20] While in 2006 the U.S. teen birth rate rose for the first time in fourteen years,[21] it reached a historic low in 2010: 34.3 births per 1,000 women aged 15–19.[1] • The latest data from the United States shows that the states with the highest teenage birthrate are Mississippi, New Mexico and Arkansas while the states with the lowest teenage birthrate are New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont

9. causes • ( Wiki)Sexuality: In most countries, most men experience sexual intercourse for the first time before their 20th birthdays.[55] Men in Western developed countries have sex for the first time sooner than in undeveloped and culturally conservative countries such as Sub-Saharan Africa and much of Asia.[55] • In a 2005 Kaiser Family Foundation study of US teenagers, 29% of teens reported feeling pressure to have sex, 33% of sexually active teens reported "being in a relationship where they felt things were moving too fast sexually", and 24% had "done something sexual they didn’t really want to do".[56] Several polls have indicated peer pressure as a factor in encouraging both girls and boys to have sex.[57][58] The increased sexual activity among adolescents is manifested in increased teenage pregnancies and an increase in sexually transmitted diseases.

10. Role of drug and alcohol use[edit] • Inhibition-reducing drugs and alcohol may possibly encourage unintended sexual activity. If so, it is unknown if the drugs themselves directly influence teenagers to engage in riskier behavior, or whether teenagers who engage in drug use are more likely to engage in sex. Correlation does not imply causation. The drugs with the strongest evidence linking to teenage pregnancy are alcohol, cannabis, "ecstasy" and other substituted amphetamines. The drugs with the least evidence to support a link to early pregnancy are opioids, such as heroin, morphine, and oxycodone, of which a well-known effect is the significant reduction of libido – it appears that teenage opioidusers have significantly reduced rates of conception compared to their non-using, and alcohol, "ecstasy", cannabis, and amphetamine using peers

11. Lack of contraception, the secular countries look at that as a cause, but Islam sees that zina in itself must be prevented. • And what ever that leads to it. • Sexual abuse • Socioeconomic factors • Teen pregnancy cost the United States over $9.1 billion in 2004, including $1.9 billion for health care, $2.3 billion for child welfare, $2.1 billion for incarceration, and $2.9 billion in lower tax revenue • Media influence[edit] • A study conducted in 2006 found that adolescents who were more exposed to sexuality in the media were also more likely to engage in sexual activity themselves.[87] • According to Time, "teens exposed to the most sexual content on TV are twice as likely as teens watching less of this material to become pregnant before they reach age 20".[

12. Islam and teen marriage • Islam encourages marriage over zina, and considered sexual drive in the youth as a fact that one must deal with and not neglect or not find healthy ways to steer it. • The prophet peace be upon him said, talking to the youth (males and females): “who ever is able to get married then do so, for it is a gaze controller, and a private part guardian”. • To prevent zina Islam considers prevention over remedy, which is why it regulated: • Male female relations in • Gazing • Talking • Walking • Including Media • Hijab • Forbid alcohol and drugs • Regulated family responsibility • Permission and manners in entering houses • Not being alone with the other sex without a guardian or third party. • Prevented touching even if its just a hand shake.